


A Heart Stops

by snoipahs



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, future court of kingdom hearts AU heyo. they're older. wiser. angsty-er
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7861093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoipahs/pseuds/snoipahs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They all lived such a charmed life in Kingdom Hearts after Sora became king. No more painful secrets, no more empty promises, no more broken hearts. Until early one morning, Xion turned to embrace Roxas, but he wasn't there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aubade

Xion's dream had been a pleasant one; lovely, even.

What it was about, she couldn't recall upon waking, but nevertheless she wore a grin from ear to ear as she stretched and sighed contentedly where she lay. Even the pit of her stomach felt warm.

She blinked her eyes open, and distantly thought it would be nice to wrap her arms around her lover. She rolled over, and turned to look at his side of their bed...

...That he was not in.

Strange, she thought as she sat up. She had fallen asleep before he was able to return home from his mission late last night, but even when he could go to bed on time, Roxas was not an early riser.

After sitting idly for a spell and staring at their closed bedroom door, she also guessed he couldn't have been in the bathroom. Confused and the slightest bit unsettled, she turned her legs out of bed and pulled on her long black robe.

\---

Xion happened upon a small squall of activity as she strode downstairs. The grand door to the castle courtyard was open, and she noticed Terra's towering frame walking briskly in from outside to meet Sora and Kairi in the foyer. The king shared with him some hushed, hurried words while the queen stood beside them with her arms crossed, a worried expression on her face.

None of them noticed Xion's presence until she was all the way down the stairs, her bare feet completely silent on the marble floor. Clearly more important matters held their attention, anyway.

"...What's going on?" she asked aloud to make her presence known.

Instantly, the three of them tensed. Kairi and Terra immediately turned uneasy stares in her direction, while Sora spared her a mournful glance. Then, the king cast his eyes to the floor.

"...Xion," Kairi greeted her without the slightest hint of joy in her voice.

"Milord. Milady. Excuse me." Terra bowed his shoulders curtly before excusing himself. Xion paid him no attention as he blew by her, taking off in the same direction from whence he had come.

"Sora, where's Roxas?" Her voice had urgency in it, now, since he was nowhere in sight. Having read their reactions, clearly she figured her arrival was something they were dreading.

"...His mission was scheduled to run late last night, but..." Sora began, managing to look her in the eye. "He never came home."

Xion felt ice in her stomach, and all the breath in her body was suddenly shot out her lungs with the force of her gasp.

" _What_?"

"Riku and Lea left early this morning to find him," the king went on to explain, trying to keep her attention and reassure her. "I'm sure it's not a big deal, but he--"

" _Where is he_?" She was no less hysterical, and now clutching one hand over her heaving chest. "Why haven't you contacted him?!"

"I've been trying," Sora said, losing some of his own composure. "But I can't hear him, at all. It's like he..."

When words failed him the king absently shook his head and turned his palms upward. Then, he let out another heavy sigh, and rolled his eyes to the side in anguish.

"I can't feel his heart. I don't know why." Sora's voice had dropped much lower. From where she stood at his side, Kairi placed a hand on her lover's shoulder to silently console him.

"Why didn't you wake _me_ up?!" Xion raised her voice in anger. "Gods, he's missing, and _I'm_ the last to know?!"

Now she grew much more animated, fiercely gesturing her arms as she spoke in disbelief and rage and panic and a whole mix of other powerfully negative emotions. Sora expected as much, but when she turned to the castle doors and started for them, he had to do something to stop her.

"Where are Riku and Lea now??" she asked as she prepared to break into a run.

"Xion, no," the king lurched forward with impossible speed and grabbed her forearm, halting her in her tracks. "I can't let you go after him."

"Let go of me!" she shouted back, whipping around to try and shake his grip. "As if you are in any position to tell me what I can and can't do--!"

"I am sorry I didn't summon you sooner," Sora still clutched his hand to her limp wrist, now more to comfort than restrain her. "But it was for your own good. I had truly hoped to have him back before you woke at all."

"I can't believe you _didn't_ \--" Xion hissed, narrowing her eyes into a biting glare.

Then, she decided she'd had enough. In a single, swift motion, she yanked her hand away, then used her powers to send out a large shard of crystal from the palm of her hand.

"Wait--!" Sora cried out in desperation, both he and Kairi handily dodging her little offense. The king raised his right hand to dispel the crystal, but his queen shattered it for him with a sudden beam of pure light. Its pieces silently rained to the ground before disappearing into a shower of small sparkles, revealing Xion now running for the door.

It was nothing for the two of them to catch her. This time, the king stopped her by embracing her fully, wrapping both his arms around her from behind and forcibly willing her heart to calm itself with his own otherworldly power.

Xion felt the warmth of his being radiate into her back. Half his darkness, half his light.

She couldn't bear the thought of the one that feeling reminded her of.

"...L-Let go of me," she sniveled weakly, completely broken up.

"Xion, please," Sora whined when still he felt her strain against him. She grew crystals through his knuckles, but he only held her tighter and buried his face to her shoulder. "Stop. Just... _please_. If there is anyone who understands how you feel, it's me. It burns me just as badly that I cannot leave to collect him myself."

"I can,” she whispered desperately, seeming to realize her defeat. "Sora, please, you know I can, I _have_ to--!" Tears had begun to roll down her cheeks. "He's my... Roxas--"

"For his sake," The king had to choke back some tears of his own in order to speak clearly. "I can't let you. If anything were to happen to you while you were under my charge, I could never face him again."

When she heard that, Xion shifted out from his embrace and turned to push his chest away, unable to stand the contact any longer. Sora reluctantly fell his arms away, and she stared only at the floor between her feet.

"Your majesty, I'm begging you--" she implored, managing to turn her face up, but before she could finish she was interrupted by her queen.

"Xion, honey, you're not thinking clearly," Kairi took her turn to attempt to comfort her, but it hardly accomplished such. "It could be a trap. You know whoever-- or _what_ ever would want to separate you two knows that you would come running as soon as you realized he was gone."

The queen then strode towards her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have to trust Riku and Lea.” Kairi’s voice had dropped to a considerately low tone. “They're strong, and they care as much as you do. They'll find him."

But Xion again flinched away from her touch, wordlessly rejecting all the words she had offered. Just as she has opened her mouth to speak again, the three of them all had their attention stolen by a sudden portal of darkness ripping open in the doorway of the foyer.

When his doppelgänger hastily stepped out, Sora rushed over to him.

"--Vanitas," he breathed, relieved to see his brother, but the expression on his face was not as enthusiastic as he had hoped it would be.

"Sora, they--" Vanitas met his king’s face first, but his spatial awareness grew as the two others in the room followed to his side. When he saw Xion, his words immediately caught in his throat.

During his long pause, he let out an uneasy sigh, and reached behind himself to procure a long, white lanyard, with a yellow Wayfinder charm hanging off the end of it. They all recognized what it was the instant they saw it.

"...Lea found it.” Vanitas explained, letting Oathkeeper’s keychain dangle from his pinched fingers. Its metal clasp was perfectly intact, the whole of the lanyard undamaged. “They're far out from the portal."

The lot of them truly didn’t know what to make of the object, and thus there was another painful silence between them before Vanitas silently handed the charm to Sora.

"They want to stay out, but I just... I can't let them.” Vanitas furrowed his brow in frustration as he continued. His normally bright golden eyes were sullen and listless. “I have to call them back. With this and yesterday's mission... it's too much."

Sora nodded, understanding the physical strain it would place on his subjects to ask that they take up the heavy task of continuing their search without even having the opportunity to recuperate from all they had done already. He also contemplated the emotional anguish they’d be in once they returned; he didn’t know how they’d react being called back and left to worry helplessly for one of their own.

"...I understand. Thank you, Van." The king’s voice was somber as he tucked the chain away.

"Would you just send me and Ven already?" Vanitas snapped suddenly, surprising all three of them. His voice was borderline hostile.

"Vanitas," Sora turned halfway to him, maintaining a level tone. "That's enough. I just sent Terra to Aqua and they will take their place."

"This is a waste of time!” he was practically shouting in anger, now. Both Kairi and Xion stepped aside, wearing astonished expressions on their faces. If you would just let me go I could cover twice the ground on my own--!"

" _Vanitas!_ " Sora boomed so loudly that the high rafters of the room seemed to actually shake. He turned completely to his brother and flashed a very vicious yet volatile glare deep into his eyes. "I said that's _enough!_ "

The king’s outburst left Vanitas slightly wide-eyed and dead silent. When Sora realized he’d been straining to hold his breath, he let out a shaky sigh. More than anything, he was embarrassed at his little outburst. In fact, almost as soon as he was done, he drooped his shoulders and paused before dropping his face to his palm.

"...He's my brother, too." Vanitas suddenly had all eyes on him after he practically whispered that.

"Sora, I know you're worried, for all of us, but you're not thinking clearly,” he continued, raising his voice. Xion cocked her head, captivated by the way he echoed Kairi’s exact words to her without even knowing it. “It's a fine thought that you want to trust our masters, but this is _Roxas_ we're talking about. You know how strong he is. If something has really--" he stopped himself for a moment, swallowing hard. "-- _incapacitated_ him, they're not going to be enough."

He’d read all the king’s deepest dreads out loud to him as if he was an open book. Sora’s expression sagged exponentially, and he found himself unable to formulate a counter to his brother.

"One of the three of us has to go.” Vanitas said it plainly. “ I'd rather it not be you."

"I'm not sending you _and_ Ven,” Sora warned as more of a knee-jerk reaction, totally unprepared to argue his point. “And I'm _definitely_ not sending you alone--"

"I'll go with him, then!" Xion suddenly spoke up, daring to step between the two brothers.

"Xion--!" Kairi followed, but before she could stop her she launched fully into her plea.

"That way you and Ven are still here, in case anything else happens," Xion began, placing her hand on Vanitas’ arm. “Van and I strong together and you know it. As strong as you and Kairi! Whatever he's dealing with, if we can find him then three of us together would be more than enough to stop it."

Sora just stared at her, breathing lightly, and beginning to wear dangerously thin having to listen to their arguments so brutally challenge his will.

"I know you have a lot of faith in him, but it was a mistake to let him on missions alone in the first place," she continued without hesitation. "And you're trying to make up for it now by being overprotective, but that's a mistake that could cost him his life!"

He snapped his gaze away, feeling a literal sting at her scolding.

"...You're my king, Sora... I love and respect you. I'd rather not go against your blessing, but there's nothing you could say or do to keep me from him."

The king chewed his lip, knowing of course what she said was true. He'd known it was the whole time.

"Wherever she goes, I follow," Vanitas jumped in to remind him. "...That was my promise to him, in the event of his... absence."

Now there was a painfully heavy silence in the room as even Kairi looked upon Sora with concern, entirely unable to read the pained yet blank expression on her true love’s face. His eyes were cast down, his fists were balled at his sides.

"...Sora..." the queen began, drifting a limp palm to his forearm.

As soon as she touched him, he came back to life, drawing in a deep breath and rearing his head back. Their was life in his eyes again; determination in them..

"...You're not going unprepared.” he said flatly. “Xion, you haven't even eaten yet."

Halfway stunned by his words and halfway energized when she realized what he meant, she nodded frantically a few times before drawing up to the balls of her feet.

"I'll be quick, I swear--" she promised, but lingered for a moment in case he had any other orders to give.

"Then go."

Xion didn’t have to be told twice. In the next split second a column of crystal encased her, and she vanished in a mist of glimmering dust.

There was stillness following her departure, and Vanitas waited a good few moments to be sure she was completely gone before he spoke again.

"...She doesn't have to go through this," he complained to the two of them. "I could bring him back myself. She could just stay here, safe in her bed--"

"Are you going to be the one to explain that to her?" Sora turned to face him again, this time a defeated, broken look characterizing his features. It was an ill match to his eerily calm voice.

Even after being given a moment to contemplate, Vanitas could come back with nothing. He simply chewed his lip and waited for his king to continue.

"The two of you are strong together. I do trust you. And you're both right-- this is me trying to take back a mistake. But I'll not have either of you learn a lesson for me," Sora made his own deft argument. Then, he procured Oathkeeper’s keychain, but Vanitas knew better than to take it from his open palm before he had finished delivering his orders.

"I'm placing her in your care. You are not to let any harm to come to her. Is that clear?"

"Of course,” he said, reverting immediately back to his role as an obedient subject.

"And the both of you are to risk nothing. If you two aren’t back by nightfall, I'm coming to collect you myself." Though they were not unreasonable, Sora delivered those terms with a particular forcefulness.

"I understand."

"...You may go to her," Sora said finally, completely outstretching his hand. Vanitas took back the charm from it at once. "You're both dismissed. As soon as you're ready, you may leave. She...” he mumbled, looking away in shame. “She doesn't have to see me again."

Although he noticed his falter, Vanitas didn’t speak to it.

"...Your majesty. Milady." He gave a proper half-bow, and courteously turned to step away before opening his own portal.

"Vanitas."

"...?" He halted in his tracks, looking back to the king after hearing him speak his name, who had a serious gaze locked directly on him.

"Find our brother. Bring him home."

Vanitas had his lips slit open, at a loss for words at first, but then he set his teeth and nodded firmly.

"...I will."

A chilling snap of darkness, and at once the king and queen were left entirely alone in their castle’s grand foyer. As soon as his subject was out of his presence, Sora immediately surprised himself by breaking into a deep, breathless sob. He tried to hold it in for his beloved’s sake, but it was far too late. Before he could even draw another breath, he fell to his knees, and she followed. Kairi threw her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled her face to the side of his neck as he buried his face into his hands and quietly cried.

\---

Vanitas and Xion were underway within minutes of leaving their audience with the king. Xion had on a redacted version of her usual offworld attire, while Vanitas was still fully clothed in the gear he wore on his last mission. He hadn’t slept in nearly a day and she still had the crumbs of a hastily eaten breakfast on her lips.

They had met up near Kingdom Hearts’ station to the worlds beyond to board the ghostly train that connected them to the Mysterious Tower; it made its last stop in the station of all worlds that they called their home.

"...I shouldn't have spoken to Sora like that..." Xion gazed sorrowfully into the distance, trying but failing to appreciate the beauty of the aurora in the dark sky right outside the train window. Her mind had been far away for the entirety of their ride.

"Xion, hey," Vanitas snapped from where he sat opposite her in their passenger car. "Focus. That's not important right now."

"No, it is," she rambled, hiding half her face behind her hand. "How much pain he must be in, too, and I only added to it," her voice started to shake. "Like I'm the only one who cares he's gone."

"If you hadn't said what you did, we'd both still be there, sitting around, staring at the wall," he said, leaning forward. "Even if he is our king, he needs a good yelling at every once in a while," he drew a hand up to his hair to absently scratch his scalp. "...His only flaw is ever caring too much, but it's still a flaw."

Xion said nothing to that. Vanitas tented his fingers.

"…I have to thank you,” he said lowly. “I wouldn't have gotten him to budge on my own."

"Don't thank me.” She turned her face entirely away from him. “I don't want to think about the way I acted."

"Then think about Roxas. That would serve us both."

Suddenly, Xion snapped her face back to him, a renewed fire in her eyes.

"...Do you really think that someone-- or, something could have beaten him?" she asked more out of disbelief than fear. She knew how strong Roxas was; the knowledge that he was practically as strong as Sora was a very real source of comfort for her. Not once did she ever spare a thought to the idea that he could be totally bested.

"Stranger things have happened," Vanitas shrugged. "But even so, I wouldn't worry. Even when he's out of his league, he knows how to take care of himself."

After hearing his answer, Xion again grew silent. But instead of gazing out the window, now, she was glaring vengefully at the shining stars and fluffy clouds like they were mocking her through their serenity.

Noticing her expression, Vanitas knew he had to remain the calm, collected one of the two. They both had so much at stake, but after his promise to Sora, he had to put aside his own fear and confusion for her and only her.

“…You have to tell me what you’re thinking,” he tried to get her to keep talking, but in the same moment that she spoke, she put a hand to the window. The entire surface of it glowed blue, and the train itself rumbled and gained speed.

“The only demons that have ever gotten the better of Roxas are his own,” she said simply, staring straight ahead.

“We’re not going to the world where his mission was, are we…?” Vanitas asked rhetorically as he watched the colors of the sky outside change from deep blue to vivid orange.

Xion tweaked half her mouth up into a rueful smile, and spoke her next sarcastic question in a completely humorless voice.

“Bring any munny for ice cream?”


	2. Missing Ache

Roxas' old bed was so small.

Xion remembered having to straddle him just to fit the both of them in it. He used to press his back to the wall and hold her tightly all night so she wouldn't tumble out onto his messy floor.

Of all the places they had slept together, his bedroom in Twilight Town was by far the most sentimental. Roxas had the closest thing to a normal adolescence between the two of them, and this room was where a great deal of it took place, even if it was only seven days in reality.

But she knew how much this town meant to him. She had her own share of idyllic memories here, even if they were among more painful ones. They had better lives, now, but still they left their luxurious bed in Kingdom Hearts to spend the night here from time to time. It was both a novelty and an honor for them to be able to come back for their share of melancholy and some simple time to spend alone, as lovers.

Xion let her hand drift along the perfectly made twin mattress, which contrasted everything else in the disheveled room. Undoubtedly, it belonged to a teenaged boy, evident by the dirty clothes littered about the floor and the colorful, misaligned posters depicting skateboarding and Struggle tournaments on the walls.

"It hasn't changed at all..." her voice came out a whisper as she turned her head to gaze around the room. His favorite CDs were all out of their cases, stacked atop his stereo, and the window above his bed had one curtain drawn back and a screen cracked open. She knew he liked a cool breeze to fall asleep to, even in a world whose sky blazed vibrant orange in the middle of the night.

Vanitas was lingering at her back, clearly not as familiar with the space as she was and even a little uncomfortable when he realized just how emotional the moment was becoming. He let her have some time to reminisce, but their mission to at hand still weighed heavily on the both of them.

"...You should be looking for anything that has," he advised, aimlessly combing the room with his eyes, virtually nothing to go off of compared to her. "Anything different that shows us he would have been here recently."

Xion was pulled back to reality when he spoke, and took a deep breath to refocus herself. Almost soon as she did, she did indeed notice something out of place tucked halfway under his bedsheets.

"Vanitas," she called his attention to it in the same moment she swiped it and held it up for him to see.

It was Oblivion's keychain. The onyx crown swayed ominously as she let it dangle between her fingertips.

"...This chain isn't broken, either." Vanitas took it from her to examine it, looking perplexed.

"You think he detached them on purpose?" Xion half-asked, half-stated the obvious.

"I bet he did." He pocketed the memento, scrunching his nostrils in disdain. "But why? Is he trying to communicate with us, somehow? But if he doesn't want to be found, why would he..."

"To assure us he's okay," she said listlessly. "This is something he would do..."

The absence in her eyes as she spoke was upsetting. Vanitas watched with a stiff lip as her shoulders sagged, and her whole face downturned.

"...Hey. Are you okay?" he asked, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Xion spoke curtly, immediately shrugging off his touch. "I have to be."

"Xion--" he pressed, reaching for her again, but she quickly jolted out of her own sentimental stupor. He darted his eyes to follow her as she started for the door.

"This place always tormented him, the both of us..." she explained aloud, walking with a steadfast intention. "...We loved our time here, but it was our undoing."

"Where are you--?!" Vanitas had to jog to catch up to her as she barreled out into the hall.

Xion's expression was steely, set into a straight grimace. Such a harsh look rarely ever graced her pretty face, and it flustered him just to look upon it. However, he also noticed her skyline eyes nearly glistening with moisture. Her voice was tight and low as she answered him through grit teeth.

"To the one place he hates most in this entire world."

\---

Vanitas had never been to the Old Mansion before, although he knew its ugly history. He had no want to visit it, nor to see for himself the locale that hosted such suffering for his brothers and the other cherished members of his family. But now, he had no choice.

His skin crawled as he looked upon it. The dead ivy that strangled the sides of the tall stone walls was a sickly brown, and tattered white curtains blew through the openings of shattered windows. The courtyard in which they stood was overgrown with unkept grass and weeds protruding through the tiles of the cracked cobblestone walkway that lead the way through the gate and up to the front door.

Xion broke the lock on the black iron bars with a shard of sharp crystal from her fingertip. The gate clattered helplessly against her power before it creaked open.

The front door also swung open for them with little resistance, and Vanitas remembered his promise to Sora as they both stepped into the dark foyer. Inconspicuously, he grew his own shadow to hold Xion's, ready to shield her from whatever could be lurking in the mansion at a moment's notice.

They stood together in silence and scanned the area, the only light seeping in being what little could show through the open door at their backs. Still shadows from the ruined furniture grew on walls of peeled wallpaper. All the broken, old fixtures of the room seeming to sag in shame at the way daylight revealed their sorry states.

The light also betrayed their way forward.

"...There!"

Xion only noticed it because she knew where to look. To their left, visible through the library's open door, was the secret staircase that lead down to the annals of the basement. She didn’t waste a second before breaking into a straight sprint for it.

"Wait," Vanitas still had enough sense to dart in front of her and appear in a column of shadow, stopping her before she could reach the top of the stairs. She pointed him a glare for daring to stand in her way, but he held his ground. Flicking his wrist out at his side, he summoned his Keyblade, using it to gesture down the stairwell.

"That's where it happened, isn't it?" he continued, cocking his head slightly. "Where they kept Sora?"

Vanitas remained steady and serious as she bore into him with her eyes. She knew why he phrased it like that; it was easier for her to hear than the clear truth of what that place meant to her. No mention of it being where Roxas was detained, dismantled, and reprogrammed into the lie Ansem created to imprison him. The place where her beloved met his end.

Xion swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded just once, a streak of moisture tumbling down her cheek.

"I'll go down first. Okay?" he said gently, considerately ignoring her tear. He then put up a palm and took one careful step down the first stair, slowly and deliberately. "You have my back?"

She nodded again, grateful he broke up her hurry to give her a chance to wipe her face and compose herself. He was right to; they had no idea what they might find down there. Rushing in headfirst as she was about to was far from their best interest.

Xion armed herself by growing shards of crystal on her fingertips and stayed close to Vanitas' back. As they descended into the basement together, she noticed how he carried himself just like Sora, just like her one and only. It was amazing how even just being near his brothers connected her to him.

She was pulled out of her thought when she sensed a presence looming in the annals of the basement. Her escort sensed it, too, and immediately he raised his Keyblade. A silhouetted figure rushed them as soon as they touched their feet to the bottom of the stairs.

Vanitas threw his arm out to protect Xion, but the figure stopped just short of the light cast down from above. In lingered in the darkness at its wary distance, not daring to confront them. The deep blue light emanating from a distant chamber in the basement only illuminated so much, but from over Vanitas' arm Xion could make out two familiar weapons, crossed defensively over the figure and missing the chains that were supposed to dangle at the end of their hilts.

"... _Roxas_?" she called the name of the one they were looking for in cautious disbelief. Vanitas made no effort to stop her when she moved out from behind him.

The figure stepped towards them, and in the intimacy of the space he had the urge to dismiss his Keyblades. His feathery blond hair was visible first, followed by his worn and unwashed mission clothes, until finally they could see the entirety of his features. Dark circles were under his eyes and an exhausted hunch warped his body. Vanitas was frozen, barely able to recognize his brother in such a battered state, but it hardly mattered. The boy they had been looking for gave his attention only to his beloved.

"Xion?" Roxas called back. The look of overwhelming dread on his face cast a shadow on their entire reunion.

\---

The silence was cutting. Roxas stood in the center of the deep blue basement cellar, in the room with the remnants of Ansem's computer that he had smashed to pieces all those years ago. His arms were folded over his chest and his gaze was on the floor.

"I don't even know what to say to you," Vanitas spoke first, voice quaking with restrained anger. "Do you have any idea how worried sick we were?!"

"I'm sorry if you were," the blond shook his head lightly after raising it. "But it was for nothing. I'm fine--"

In the next split second, before he could even finish his sentence, Xion swept forward and slapped him, _hard_. Roxas' whole head shot to the side with the force of her hit, and he watched with wide eyes as she lowered her hand calmly back down to her side. It was just as red as his cheek.

"I woke up to an empty bed--" Despite the fact that she was not the one who had just been suddenly struck, she seemed just as shocked, confused, and hurt as Roxas did. "—No one could tell me where you were or even if you were still _breathing_! I'd never been so scared in my life, only to find you here, acting like nothing's wrong--!"

Both boys were left gaping in the aftermath of the moment, but Xion wasn't done.

"Why would you ever..." Tears started to spill down the bridges of her cheeks as her voice lowered considerably. She quickly wiped them away in frustration. "... _How_ could you do something like this to me?"

Roxas could only set his teeth and cast his eyes back down to the floor. He had to ball his hands into tight fists just to find the means to speak.

"... I deserved that," he managed to mutter. Completely choked up, he couldn’t so much as raise a palm to his still throbbing cheek to soothe it. "I… There's nothing I can say… I hurt you, Xion."

Hearing him use her full name instead of some sweet term of endearment somehow stung worse that seeing him alive and well. Thankfully, she was relieved of her obligation to reply when Vanitas forced his way back into the conversation, visibly peeved he had been left out of his concession.

"Alright, now _I_ wanna hit you," he growled after staunching towards his brother. "How could you think we wouldn't come after you? Riku and Lea worked themselves ragged looking for you in the world you were supposed to be in."

"I've only been gone a matter of hours--" Roxas tried to defend himself with a desperate whine, but Vanitas wouldn't hear it.

"You didn't come home after your mission!" Vanitas shouted, golden eyes fiery with emotion. "What we were supposed to think?"

Before he could come up with an answer he snatched both Oathkeeper and Oblivion's keychains from a tendril of his darkness and tossed them back to their rightful owner.

"These were cute, by the way. Don't think they absolve you of your guilt." Vanitas snorted. The trinkets made a metallic clink in his fist as Roxas reflexively grabbed them out of thin air.

"...You were thorough enough to find them and clever enough to deduce what they meant," he mumbled, pocketing his keychains with a sideways eye-roll. "You shouldn't have come all the way."

Right when Vanitas looked like he was about to lunge for his brother's throat, Xion threw her hands down and shot two columns of crystal into the ground. The abrupt noise of her aspect crashing forcefully against the concrete stunned them both, and won her their undivided attention.

"Enough," she spoke with finality. Just as quickly as she had summoned the crystal, she dissipated it.

"Roxas," Xion then addressed her partner, pointing a glare in his direction. "What is the meaning of this?"

Even though he had surrendered to her will, the blond had to fight for the resolve to respond, struggling to stomach the loveless look in her eyes and internally unsure of how to explain himself.

"What are you doing here, in this place, of all places..." she continued, shaking her head. The twinge of vulnerability in her demeanor was back, and yet it took nothing away from her vital demand. "What was so damn important that you had to up and vanish without saying so much as a word to me or _anyone_ where you were going or why?"

Roxas, with nowhere left to look and nothing else to say, swallowed hard and met her eyes.

"...This world is dying, and it's my fault."

**Author's Note:**

> four parts planned!! i'm very excited about this fic!!!!!! hoping to illuminate a AU/future setting for kh that i hold very dear. CLAPS HANDS TOGETHER I'LL UPDATE QUICK AS I CAN SORRY FOR THROWING UP SO MANY ONGOING FICS AT ONCE ACK  
> (comments let me live)


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